US Troops Fired Shots During Incident at RAF Mildenhall: Reports

RAF Mildenhall was the site of a security incident on Dec. 18, 2017. Benjamin Cooper/Air Force
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Fox News18 Dec 2017By Katherine Lam

A man was arrested after he allegedly rammed his car into the gates at a Royal Air Force base used by the U.S. Air Force on Monday that prompted a brief lockdown and personnel to open fire.

Royal Air Force Mildenhall in Suffolk was placed on lockdown about 1 p.m. after a "significant incident" was reported, police said. The lockdown has since been lifted.

A Ministry of Defense source told Sky News a man rammed his car into the base's gates while attempting to force his way through.

"Shots were fired by American service personnel and a man has been detained with cuts and bruises and taken into custody," Suffolk police said in a statement.

RAF Mildenhall wrote on its Facebook page it received "reports of a disturbance" and urged people to avoid the area.

No one else was injured in the incident.

The base is located about 80 miles northeast of London.

While it's not clear what prompted the incident on Monday, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, another U.S. base next to it, have both been subjected to terror threats over the past few years, according to Sky News.

Last year a British-born "committed supporter" of the Islamic State terror group was sentenced to life in prison for planning a terrorist attack on five U.S. Air Force bases in the U.K., including RAF Mildenhall.

The Associated Press later reported police said American service members fired shots before the man was detained.

A lockdown of the base was lifted after the man entered police custody, Bloomberg reported.